The Senate on Thursday confirmed Samantha Power as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. / Charles Dharapak AP

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted to confirm Samantha Power as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday.

She replaces Susan Rice, whom Obama picked last month to become his national security adviser.

Power won confirmation by an 87-to-10 vote. It is the last vote that the Senate will take before their August recess.

"As one of our country's leading foreign policy thinkers, Samantha knows that our nation's interests are advanced with strong and principled American leadership," Obama said in a statement following the Senate vote. "As a long-time champion of human rights and dignity, she will be a fierce advocate for universal rights, fundamental freedoms and U.S. national interests."

Power, a journalist who became a foreign policy adviser to President Obama, made a name for herself in foreign policy circles and won a Pulitzer Prize for her 2002 book A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.

She faced a smattering of opposition from conservative groups after Obama announced her nomination in June. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had raised concerns about sharply critical comments she made of Israel and U.S. foreign policy in the past.

In a 2002 interview, she said a "mammoth protection force" may be needed if Palestinian statehood were to be realized. Lawmakers also raised concerns about a 2003 article for The New Republic in which she wrote that the U.S. needs to make "a historical reckoning with crimes committed, sponsored, or permitted by the United States."

More than two dozen foreign policy and pro-Israel luminaries backed her confirmation. And several Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, spoke enthusiastically of her service. Power herself said during her confirmation hearing that she had regretted the controversial remarks she made.

"While some of us may not agree with everything she has written and said during her extensive career as a journalist and foreign policy professional, she has been a tireless defender of human rights and has seen the tragedy of human suffering from the front lines, firsthand, and it has given her a unique perspective," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Power's relationship with Obama dates back to his days in the Senate, where she also advised him on foreign policy issues.

She had a short fall from grace when, during the 2008 campaign, she referred to Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a "monster." After the remarks, Power resigned from the Obama campaign, but rejoined him at the White House following his victory.

She went on to work closely with Clinton during Obama's first term - most notably by joining the secretary of State in nudging Obama toward backing a NATO-led effort to topple Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

One Republican who voted against her confirmation, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, pointed to the Libya intervention in casting his vote against Power.

"I opposed the President's intervention in Libya, and do not believe he had the necessary authorization from Congress to do so," Lee said. "Ms. Power's nomination signals the president's intention to continue using the U.N. to circumvent Congress on important issues while neglecting the need for effective and wide-ranging reforms."